OCR Text

New Braunfels Herald Zeitung (Newspaper) - January 7, 2011, New Braunfels, Texas
■ COMMUNITY NEWS, 2Jim Hayes has been a square dance caller for 50 years
■ WEEKEND, 123 Mile Stone playing at Gruene Hall
■ PREP BASKETBALL. 6Canyon's Reinier Strobos accepts invitation to MIT
Texas .^tp Newspaper of the YearServing New Braunfels and Comal County since 1852.
500
Racanelli indicted for NBISD record tampering
By J. Louise Larson
The Heraid-Zeitung NBPD: Former administrator forged documents to help 2 get into UT
A (lomal County grand jury indicted school administrator Elisa Racanelli Wednesday on allegations of tampering with the records of two New Braunfels Independent School District seniors.
Racanelli is expected to turn herself in as early as today after the warrant is processed.
Bond has been set at $10,000.
The records involved in the case belonged to two female seniors at New Braunfels High School who needed to go up in class ranking to make the top 10 percent in order to get into the University of Texas, said Comal County Chief Felony Prosecutor Sammy
McCrary.
“She was charged with tampering with a government record — that being records on two students at NBISD,” he said.
According to two sources, the alleged tampering involved a paper document forwarded to a university, not
the district’s computerized accountability system.
“I think the registrars signature was forged on both of them,” McCrary said.
T he students whose records were reportedly tampered with were not related to Racanelli and were unaware of the efforts made on their
► KRUEGER DAM
Comal County to combine redesign, construction contract
behalf, said NBISD public information officer Stephanie Ferguson.
Ferguson said she does not believe the students themselves were aware of any tampering that might have done on their behalf, and the district doesn’t believe there were other incidents of tampering.
"We do believe this to be an isolated incident,” she said.
Ferguson said the district has been careful to ensure the district’s ranking system is secure and accurate.
"We acknowledge that our current student data system validated the transcript discrepancy that led to the investigation,” she said.
See NBISD, Page 5
Krause
By Greg Bowen
The Heraid-Zeitung
County officials will seek a more comprehensive contract with the engineering firm being considered for the Krueger Canyon dam project.
Comal County Commissioners’ Court went into a closed session Thursday to discuss hiring Fort Worth-based Freese and Nichols to engineer the redesign of the dam, hut took no action on the matter after returning to open session.
“Certainly something the court is considering at this point is entering into a contract with Freese and Nichols for the redesign of the Krueger Canyon dam project,” said County Judge Sherman Krause. “The reason we did not take action on that today is because we’re considering expanding the scope of that contract.”
Krause said, rather than signing one contract with the engineers now for a dam redesign and then later having to enter into another contract for engineering services needed during the construction phase of the project, commissioners are now considering rolling both the design and construction-phase services into a single contract.
“We’re going to come back next week and consider entering into a contract for both of those at the same time,” said Krause.
Construction-phase engineering services would include “making sure that the building of the dam is done in
See DAM, Page 5
Vol. 158, No. 49 12 pages, 1 section
Aug. 13,1923-Jan. 2,2011
City Mourns
True ‘Gentleman’
Bill Borchers was rancher, oldest practicing attorney in town
By Greg Bowen
The Heraid-Zeitung
«
Bill Borchers, the city’s oldest practicing attorney, died in his sleep Sunday morning at
age 87.
Friends remembered him as a gentleman and a man of character.
“He was an old-style, good, honest person, a country gentleman. He was always a square shooter and nowadays that’s a mark of achievement,” said attorney Ron Zipp.
“We’re still in shock around here,” said Sandy Kiesling, Borchers’ secretary at the 1850-vintage home on South Seguin Street that served as the law office of William H. Borchers.
Kiesling said Borchers had been doing well after under-going heart surgery during Thanksgiving week. “He said he was going to live to be 110.”
He was a mentor and a role model for some of us young attorneys — and continued to be until this day/'
— Bruce Boyer
New Braunfels mayor
Heraid-Zeitung file photo
Dean Word III, left,Timothy D. Word Jr., William Borchers and Marcia McGlothlin gather Aug. 13 for a photo at the Word-Borchers Ranch.
FUNERAL SERVICES
Funeral services for Bill Borchers will be held at 2 p.m. today, Friday, at the First United Methodist Church of New Braunfels. Burial will follow at Guadalupe Valley Memorial Park.
In addition to being an attorney, Borchers was a land developer involved in the creation of the city’s Oakwood Estates subdivision and in the planned Word-Borchers Ranch development.
He was also a cattle rancher, a former city attorney and had been a banker instrumental in the creation of the old New Braunfels National Bank.
“The man did now slow down,” Kiesling said. "He just amazed everybody.”
All across town on Thursday, those who knew him were remembering.
“ft was very sad to learn of his passing,” said Mayor Bruce Boyer. "Bill was one of the
See BORCHERS, Page 5
Inside
CLASSIFIEDS
COMICS
CROSSWORD
FORUM
OBITUARIES
PLANNER
SPORTS
TV GRID
10
8
8
4
3
9
6
11
Cloudy
High Low
67 44
Details 9
Review panel advises leadership, tech changes for TxDOT
e n,,56825 00001 1
heraid-zeitung.com 50 cents
From the Associated Press
AUSTIN—The 12,000-employee Texas Department of Transportation needs new leadership, consolidated financial operations and better communication with the public, an advisory panel recommend:».
The three-member review council, appointed last summer by the Texas Transportation Commission, reported the findings Wednesday, less than a week before the Texas
ONLINE:
Texas Department of Transportation: http://www.txdot.gov/
Legislature convenes. The recommendations were based on an examination of a May 2010 external audit of TxDOT The restructuring report cites an "acute erosion of public confidence in TxDOT."
The review panel stopped short
of indicating that Amadeo Saenz Jr., the executive director of TxDOT, should be replaced.
"Our recommendation was that to move into the 21st century, new leadership was needed and, clearly, the commission has the authority and the power to define exactly how broad and how deep that should go," said panel member Howard Wolf.
Wolf is a former member of the Sunset Advisory Committee, which
periodically reviews government agencies to determine whether they should continue to exist and makes recommendations for improvements.
Saenz, who has served as the agency's director since 2007, left the meeting immediately after the recommendations were presented.
"I have not yet read the Restruc-See TXDOT, Page 5For Fun and Conversation Enjoy an Uptown Piano Bar Night
WSÊÊÊSKKÊ WÊSHÊÊÊÊtHÊKÊ M
Downstairs in the Prince Solms Inn 295 E. San Antoni 830-708-5411
¡MÜ
;